Question

So I bought a low profile USB adapter that plugs in to my cigarette lighter. I also bought a cheap retractable USB cord to charge my phone. Problem I am having is when I use my GPS and have my phone plugged in, I am losing battery life. Is this normal or is it be cause of my cheap cable? I have not tried a normal cord, keep forgetting, but I do notice that even when my phone is idle, it doesnt charge as fast as say when it is plugged in to my PC.

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You can not charge your phone while GPS is running if you are using it as GPS navigation. Because GPS is draining the battery.

Turn the GPS off and plug it in and see.

That's the reason I bought stand-alone GPS .... not on my phone.

I tried once before.. my phone with GPS on while it's plugged, it gets hot.

Odd since I can talk on my phone while it is plugged in to the wall charger and it charges the battery. I don't use the GPS for long trips (no longer than a 2hr drive) so its more of an annoyance than anything. And it charged the battery, just slower than plugging it in to my PC.

Amps amps amps

Probably like tsupersonic says, not enough power to feed the draining battery. What does the charger that came with your device say? (volts and amps)

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Odd since I can talk on my phone while it is plugged in to the wall charger and it charges the battery. I don't use the GPS for long trips (no longer than a 2hr drive) so its more of an annoyance than anything. And it charged the battery, just slower than plugging it in to my PC.

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Odd since I can talk on my phone while it is plugged in to the wall charger and it charges the battery. I don't use the GPS for long trips (no longer than a 2hr drive) so its more of an annoyance than anything. And it charged the battery, just slower than plugging it in to my PC.

i looked it up. USB 2.0 port is 5v, the adapter I am using in the car is 12v. The car charges slower. So I am thinking maybe it is the cheap cable I am using. Or else I am way off....I am not an electrician

Talk on phone while it's plugged.. it's fine... that is because it is not using GPS while you are talking.

I was talking about GPS on while you are using it as GPS Navigation app... it gets hot on my phone if I use it as GPS navigation.

Not charging on while GPS is fine...just want to get it to charge as fast as when it is plugged into my pc...if possible.

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i looked it up. USB 2.0 port is 5v, the adapter I am using in the car is 12v. The car charges slower. So I am thinking maybe it is the cheap cable I am using. Or else I am way off....I am not an electrician

Not charging on while GPS is fine...just want to get it to charge as fast as when it is plugged into my pc...if possible.

it's NOT VOLTAGE, its AMPERAGE you can have 12v and only have 0.5 amps just as you can 5v and have 5 amps. See the back of the charger that CAME with your device so you can see what i'm talking about.

No.. it is hot as the stove. Burn your finger.. I unplugged out of the lighter then wait for it to cool it off the pick it up.. If I didn't plug it out in time, it may start a fire or get destroyed.

you are talking about the charger?

here's a good analogy, say the wire is a road, the battery a bread factory and the light a super market, the current would therefore be the rate at which the vans leave the factory, and the voltage would be the amount of bread their carrying (the energy). so amps are the rate at which energy is moved and volts are the actual level or intensity of that energy.

Another analogy - You have a big vat full of water. At the bottom is a valve that is closed. The water represents a potential to do work or the voltage. As you open the valve a little bit some water flows out. This represents current. How much the valve is open represents resistance - the smaller the opening the greater the resistance. Now if you had a water wheel near the valve and the outflow of the vat caused the wheel to turn; and if the wheel were connected to a generator you would have a miniature hydroelectric system and could get some work done.

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Yes, you want to look at the amperage, not the voltage. A car is 12v, but USB is 5v. The block that plugs into your cigarette lighter drops it to 5v.

Now, the amperage. Most wall outlet chargers are rougly 1A, though with tablets and higher power phones, they are starting to push to 2A even. USB ports on a computer and car chargers are typically less than 1A, perhaps 500mA, which is what makes them slower.

However, there's another factor. Some phones will charge slow unless you have the data pins in the USB connector shorted.

The solution in your car is to make sure you have a powerful enough charger. 1A is probably ok, then make sure you have a cable that's data pins are shorted. Since others commenting on the power block's amazon page said they got a full 1A from it, I'd suspect the cable.

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Yes, you want to look at the amperage, not the voltage. A car is 12v, but USB is 5v. The block that plugs into your cigarette lighter drops it to 5v.

Now, the amperage. Most wall outlet chargers are rougly 1A, though with tablets and higher power phones, they are starting to push to 2A even. USB ports on a computer and car chargers are typically less than 1A, perhaps 500mA, which is what makes them slower.

However, there's another factor. Some phones will charge slow unless you have the data pins in the USB connector shorted.

The solution in your car is to make sure you have a powerful enough charger. 1A is probably ok, then make sure you have a cable that's data pins are shorted. Since others commenting on the power block's amazon page said they got a full 1A from it, I'd suspect the cable.

of course the phone gets hot when you use it. the screen heats the phone, the battery heats the phone when it's discharging and the CPU heats the phone...it's quite normal. what does that have to do with anything.